I love reading books, talking about books and sharing children's and young adult books with anyone who is willing to listen and chat. I have been a kindergarten teacher, a primary teacher, a teacher-librarian, a book reviewer and a workshop presenter for more than 30 years and have an endless, abiding passion for getting great books into the hands of children, young adults, teachers and parents. I hope you find something here that you will love; and then you can pass it on to someone you love!

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Saturday, May 30, 2015

Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle, written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin. Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan. Raincoast, 2015. $20.50 ages 4 and up

"Misty.
Twisty.
Where is the town?

Fog is fog unless ...
it falls down.

Patter.
Splatter.
What is that sound?"

Exploring the forms that water can take is the subject of many books for young readers. I have not seen one like this one. In it, Miranda Paul shows her readers that water changes according to a variety of conditions.

She uses a rhythmic text to capture attention and guide us through the seasons, moving from one double page description to the next, always allowing for change by connecting it to the following spread with the invitational unless ...

Turn the page and a cup of water becomes steam when it is heated up to make cocoa to warm the siblings insides after being caught in a rainstorm. On we go through each season. The text is spare, the meaning clear and informative. Jason Chin uses watercolor and gouache to craft a companion story of a brother and a sister engaging in all of the activities that relate to water in Ms. Paul's brilliant text. Each spread is detailed, and beautifully rendered so that we can enjoy the exploration along with them.

A closing section includes More About Water, a list for further reading and a select bibliography for those who want to know more than has already been shared.

"Water is ... important!
Water may seem to appear and disappear, but the
total amount of water on Earth hasn't changed in
millions of years and will stay the same for millions
more. Although water changes form and gets called
by different names, new water is not created and
old water is not destroyed. But that doesn't mean
we should take water for granted. In fact, of the total
amount of water on Earth, only 1% is drinkable."

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About Me

I am a retired teacher and teacher-librarian whose interest in children's literature became an obsession when my kids were young and I was able to spend a year at home with them, learning about the unprecedented growth in the number of books being published with children in mind. I had always been a reader, thanks to the example my parents set for my brother and I, and I wanted to pass on my love of reading to them. But, I wanted to share the best books I could find...and so my search began. I am still searching every day, despite the fact that they are grown and gone.